Apple Suppliers to Boost Gold iPhone Production

Apple Inc. has asked its suppliers to increase production of the gold-colored iPhone 5S by an additional one-third after seeing strong demand, people familiar with the situation said. It isn’t clear whether there are currently supply constraints manufacturing the new iPhone.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Matthew Ng, a 22-year-old university student, stayed up all night earlier this week to make an online reservation for an iPhone 5S to replace his aging iPhone 4. He wanted to order one with a gold color, but he says it was sold out on Apple’s Hong Kong website so he went for a silver one instead.

The gold iPhone 5S.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The gold model seems to be the most popular among consumers who placed pre-orders for the iPhone 5S at stores run by Hong Kong’s telecommunications carriers in the city’s Wanchai district earlier this week.

Hong Kong has always been a major iPhone market for consumers in mainland China who wanted to get a hold of new models at the same time as the global launch. In the past, new iPhones came out in Hong Kong months before they came to mainland China.

The value-added taxes in mainland China also made the iPhone more expensive there compared to Hong Kong prices.

This time, mainland China was among the first markets where Apple launched the new iPhones. That spurred concerns among the owners of small handset stores in Hong Kong that were relying on mainland customers who didn’t mind paying a premium.

At the Apple retail store in the city’s Causeway Bay shopping district, a long line went around the building, with many security guards making sure that there was room for pedestrians.

While the store didn’t disclose any estimates of how many people may have showed up, the line seemed much longer compared to last year’s iPhone 5 launch in Hong Kong, which fell on a regular business day. This time, iPhones began selling on a public holiday.

While Mr. Ng at the Apple retail store seemed excited about the new 5S he just picked up, he said that it would have been even better if Apple had made the screen just a little larger.

“I don’t think iPhones are changing that much anymore. But I’m so used to the operating system,” Mr. Ng said. “It would be too much of a hassle to switch to an Android phone.”

The less expensive iPhone 5C also didn’t appear to be that popular in Hong Kong, a market where most consumers are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a high-end smartphone.

“Some people seem to like the colors of the 5C, but not me,” said 28-year-old Chris Wong who works in marketing. “I think the metal casing looks much better.”